Our Service Overview: What type of media do you need to market your listing?
Congratulations! You just got a new listing and you are excited to help the Seller to get it on the market. Now, you are searching for a local photographer to take pictures of your listing.
First, you want to think about what type of media do you need? Just photos? Drone? Video? 3D or more? Before you hire a photographer, let’s dive deeper into what you really need to market your listing.
This post will give you a general overview of the types of media you can hire a professional real estate photographer to create for your property marketing and a sneak peek of what services Flocus Studio can offer as a full-service real estate media producer.
Listing Photos
When it comes to real estate marketing there is nothing more important than real estate photography. In fact, it can make or break a sale very easily.
“Without a doubt, professional photography is the most critical element of your listing marketing strategy. 86% of homebuyers state that listing photography is the #1 reason why they decide to view a home, yet only 35% of Realtors use a professional photography solution,” says Michael Yates, Marketing Director at Virtuance.
According to experts like Michael, “Using professional photography is the #1 way to get your listing to stand out from the competition and puts you in the best position to get more showings, more offers, and ultimately a higher sale price.”
So number one most basic, hire a professional photographer to take your listing photo. Don’t take it with your iPhone.
2. Video
The cherry on the sundae is having some kind of video tour that buyers can sink their teeth into. The use of video has become more prevalent over the last few years as more and more buyers tell us how much they enjoy it. Again, a top-notch Realtor won’t even give a second thought to whether or not videos are an expense worth having. They understand that if a consumer wants it then it needs to be done!”
A well-made real estate video can be an invaluable resource for both buyers and sellers, since it showcases the property in much more detail than a photo or textual description ever could. It saves you time from showing the houses to numbers of the potential clients so they can see the property on their smartphones and only those who are really interested to buy will call and ask for more information. Save your time from replying to those who have no intention to buy so you can focus on other aspects of your business.
We offer basic walkthrough video service.
3. Aerial Photos and Video
The real estate business itself boils down to one basic principle: the more leads you generate the more sales you’re likely to make. Since real estate agents know this, they are constantly on the lookout for ways to help them generate leads and aerial photography is one of the best ways to do just that. It’s an easy way to make your listings stand out from the pack and that can make all the difference to your bottom line.
In Maui, if your property is in Kihei, it is close to the ocean but not as close as an oceanfront, you may want to show your buyers the proximity of the house/condo to the ocean. The drone photos can tell, “hey, the ocean is right across from the street” but a photo taken from the interior of the house will not be able to show. Usually, homes that have a partial ocean view, we can show the ocean in the interior photos but it may look very small inside the window frame. But when you add a drone photo, the “ocean part” of the photo is taken up the majority space of your photo. Which photo will catch your attention? An interior photo with a tiny ocean view from the window OR an aerial photo with more ocean?
Drone photos are a really good way to promote the location of your property. We usually will highlight the proximity to the ocean and also fly the drone looking back towards the mountain (Haleakala view), that way your viewers will have a 360 impression of what kind of views they are getting by staying in that property. This is even more important if you are trying to promote a vacation rental listing where most visitors to Hawaii will prefer to stay as close to the beach as possible.
Property in Makawao showing ocean view
Property in Kihei showing Haleakala View
Not every property is suitable to have drone though, we do not recommend using drone photos when the property is next to some undesirable surroundings, or the yard is poorly managed, the roof of the house is so dirty or old….bottom line, you want to show a stunning ocean view if you can.
If you have a property that is in great location, but the interior is not too special to showcase, we recommend to add a 1-minute drone video teaser instead. Always showcase the best features of your property, if something is not too special, you do not have to spend extra money to show the interiors with a walkthrough video. You want to give your viewers a teaser, a taste of how it will be like staying in your property - just enough that they will inquire more and catch their interests.
Show the location of the property - E.g. Kamalani is right across the street to the ocean, you can still show the proximity to the ocean and the mountain view on the other side with drone.
4. 3D Virtual Tour
You may have heard of 3D tours. In fact, what is a 3D Tour?
Many call video walkthroughs of homes “virtual tours,” for instance. While a great listing video can complement photos and really drive interest, it is definitely not the same thing as a virtual tour. A proper virtual tour is interactive, allowing the prospective buyer to view the home at their own pace and according to what draws their particular interest. The online home shopper controls which part of the house they look at and from which angle — think of it like Street View on Google Maps, but for the inside of a home.
Listing videos, on the other hand, are not interactive. They are a straightforward video that usually includes music, zooming and panning. The shopper can’t control the movement of the video nor a Slideshow. They are all different!
Here is an example of a 3D Tour.
This same listing above, since we posted in mid of March (now is end of April), has over 3,000 views on the 3D tours, with an average 45 second view time. People actually click your 3D tour! And when you have it embedded properly on the Zillow page (the platform that we used), it shows the 3D Home icon on your listing and stands out from others.
Read our other blog to learn more about 3D tours here.
So what are the benefits of a 3D Virtual Tour?
1) Save you time and cost to keep driving back and forth to show the property.
2) Reduce Your Listing Website’s bounce rate.
It represents the number of visitors who leave a website after seeing just one page. You can use virtual tours to keep visitors engaged for longer periods of time.This means that people will spend more time on your site. Low bounce rates result in more traffic and improved search engine rankings. They also help increase customer retention and boost your online exposure.
3) Get Quality Backlinks.
Every time someone shares your virtual house tours online, your site receives a backlink. This not only increases traffic but also helps establish your authority online.
Quality backlinks are a key ranking signal. They can increase brand awareness, strengthen your reputation, and drive traffic for years to come.
4) Increased Convenience
When you're showcasing a property, you first need to make sure the house is in pristine condition. But, it can be a hassle to call a cleaning agency or ask the homeowners to clean every time the phone rings. With virtual tours, you can show off the property in its very best condition. Moreover, you can highlight its key features to entice people into buying.
5) Stand Out from the Crowd
The more traffic and links you get, the more people will find out about your site. Virtual house tours can give you a competitive edge and make your business stands out.
6) Provide a Realistic Experience
Virtual tours are like a permanent open house. Potential clients can access the tour 24/7 from their office or while on the road.
This technology helps create an instant sense of ownership. Those who take the tour can easily imagine themselves living in that house.
5. Virtual Staging
When preparing a house for sale, there could be a lot of cleaning to be done before the photoshoot. Sometimes, it takes weeks to get the property ready. How much time can you afford to spend on waiting to have the house fully cleaned or for new furniture to be delivered before you list the house for sale?
We provide virtual staging services as an alternative to “physical staging” or intense cleaning for these situations:
homes that have furniture that looks very old
homes that have a lot of furniture in them
homes that are poorly presented (very messy)
rental properties where the tenant doesn’t want you to show their things in the photos
Depending on each house condition, we can digitally declutter and remove the current furniture and add in new virtual furniture to give a completely different look. This can dramatically change a room, and give added confidence to an agent who is selling a home that doesn’t present well. Digital decluttering depends on the property situation. Please send us sample photos to see if it is possible.
You will simply have to make a remark in your MLS listing saying photos are virtually staged. OR you can still have the empty room photos to show the before and after. Read more about Virtual Staging here.
6. Staging
Apart from virtual staging, we also provide basic staging services. This is especially helpful to vacation rental property where owners may want to show the vacation vibes and a tropical feel. The main area that we staged is usually the Lanai. We may put some flowers or fruits on the coffee table or kitchen countertop depending on the home.
You are welcome to stage it yourself or if you are owners who are not on the island, we will take care of the staging part for you. Nothing too fancy, but adding more colors to the living space does help make the photo pop up and stands out from the crowd.
7. Advance Digital Modification
Twilight Photos
We offer both sunset sessions to film your property during sunset and digital twilight photo. A sunset photo gives your listing a great cover photo and tells your viewers how it feels like to be in the house during evening time.
Sky Replacement
Although we live in Hawaii, there are still cloudy days or rainy days. If the photo shoot takes place on a less ideal weather day, don’t worry, we replace the sky with blue sky. Nice and shine.
Removing people in the photo
There may be lots of people on the beach or pool which we cannot always avoid. Let us digitally remove them from your listing photos.
Other specific requests
What if you have a fire pit in the backyard? If it is a challenge to light it up, we will light it up for you digitally by adding the fire.
***Advanced digital modification may cost extra depending on the complexity of the photo.
Fire is digitally added to the fire pit.
Twilight photo - Digital Sunset Photo
8. Custom Listing Website, Floor Plan and more
A great real estate agent will almost always have a first-class website as well. They understand that consumers start their search online and presentation is everything.
We can also create a custom hosting website with the function to host an interactive Virtual Open House, Floor Plans, 3D Tour, Flyer download, branded and unbranded version links, QR codes.
Inquire to know more.
Sample: Scroll below (left) or visit the custom website page directly.
We have covered some of the most popular media tools you can use for marketing your property listing. Now, it’s your decision to make what would you need your photographer to create for you.
If you want to know more about how to utilize these media tools in your listings, feel free to speak to us. Contact us for a consultation.
All photos and materials in this blog is copyrighted by FLOCUS Studio LLC. Do not copy or repost. Thank you.